Official Singles Chart on 14/6/2019

If Freddie Mercury isn’t top of the charts with Time Waits For No One then this generation truly are going to be done for because that’s true music so I recommend you go and stream it

UK Top 40 Singles Chart, 14 June 2019
https://youtu.be/PNYNdmAHYzg

My thoughts & observations on the UK charts as always…

- Despite not being #1 on the Official Chart Update, ‘I Don’t Care’ by Ed Sheeran & Justin Bieber narrowly leads the singles chart for a fifth consecutive week (1,553 combined sales ahead of ‘Old Town Road’).

- ‘Old Town Road’ by Lil Nas X has now been at #2 for the past seven weeks! Even though it was the most streamed track of the week with 8.8 million plays, ‘I Don’t Care’ remained the most downloaded song over the past seven days.

- ‘Hold Me While You Wait’ by Lewis Capaldi soars to #1 on the national airplay chart for the first time.

- ‘Old Town Road [Remix]’ by Lil Nas X ft Billy Ray Cyrus spends its eighth week in total at #1 on Britain’s YouTube chart, although it loses 19% of its weekly views to 4.23 million.

- CHRIS BROWN FT DRAKE - NO GUIDANCE (#8)
Yeah, we all knew this was coming! I expect Chris Brown to get a hit every now & then, but the real reason this is in the Top 10 is, well… Drake! Here’s the thing though, with how much music the latter has put out lately & the fact that he’s got two new songs out tomorrow, they really need to be awesome to win me over, which sadly, this song isn’t. It just sounds too familiar from what we’ve heard from both of these before; I’ve never minded Drake’s crooning & I respect that he’s supporting women for their financial independence (although he does go off-topic pouring out his feelings after the final hook) & Chris’ vocals are better than average, but this mid-tempo urban production seems very safe & it doesn’t develop into anything more. Again, it’s not bad, but this is only charting this high on name recognition & streaming alone. For me, it’s a light 6/10!

- MABEL - MAD LOVE (#18)
So I have definitely been supportive of Mabel’s music since her UK breakthrough, so I was certainly excited to see ‘Don’t Call Me Up’ become her first international hit earlier this year. As for this, eh, it’s not bad, but she can do a hell of a lot better! Let’s get the big issue out of the way first; the lyrics are incredibly basic compared from what we’re used to from her, which is essentially describing getting laid. Yeah, she’s bringing that level of confidence I like hearing from her & she can pull off $exy rather well, but is it just me, or does she sound out of breath at times & the hook is trying to aim for something bigger than it actually is? I mean, I’m a sucker for the tropical vibe she’s been following recently, but this is considerably less creative than what brought to the charts in the first place. So for me, I’m thinking a very light 7/10!

- MOSTACK FT DAVE & J HUS - STINKING RICH (#19)
Here’s another example of how not necessarily having the biggest album of the week can give you the most notable impact of the singles chart. WIth Mostack, he’s not done anything to really annoy me, but nothing all that impressive either. With this, sorry, I’m just lukewarm it on best. Of course, I’ve always expressed my support of Dave’s & J Hus’ flows (see my review of ‘Disaster’ for that), but the punchlines & bragging lines make a lot less sense here than usual & Mostack’s tone goes from being either forgettable or annoying. One thing I can somewhat get behind is the slightly dark & groovy opening to the song, as well as the trumpets that close out the song, but that energy quickly dissipates for me unfortunately. I'm trying to become more generous to this genre, but even then, this is still a solid 5/10 overall.

- AVICII - HEAVEN (#20)
This song has actually been in the works since 2014, roughly around the time Avicii & Chris Martin wrote ‘A Sky Full Of Stars’. I won’t say ‘Heaven’ surpasses that level of quality, but it certainly comes close & is still amazing all the same! Both artists have always had a knack of writing an impressive vocal melody & while the subject matter is simply finding a heavenly love, the songwriting transcends it into some of the most intriguing descriptions & metaphors I’ve heard in dance music in a long time. This feels almost a story more than a song to me. The song hits crescendos & fades away at just the right times, as well as the piano chords & drippy electronic rhythms working fantastically! I’m not sure if this fits the vibe of being a massive summer club anthem, but what a fitting tribute to an incredible DJ/producer! As my new profile picture implies, I love Avicii’s new album & this song is definitely a highlight. Very strong 9/10 here!

- LIAM GALLAGHER - SHOCKWAVE (#22)
I love how Liam Gallagher is one of the very few older artists that is still essentially guaranteed to impact the Top 40 of the singles chart with their comeback single. While I’m probably not as hyped as I was when ‘Wall Of Glass’, I can’t deny my excitment for Liam’s new album is still there & that was confirmed when I heard this! It’s definitely going for a bombastic feel, with Greg Kursten contributing an organ, a tambourine & even a harmonica, all alongside the classic bass & drums. To be honest though, despite him & all the other contributors to the, the swell of Liam’s vocals are really what keep this song solid for me & why Radio 1 have hopped on board with this fast. Definitely looking forward to hearing more, because for now, this is an 8/10 for me!

- AJ TRACEY - LADBROKE GROVE (#26)
Here’s an example of why I’ve never got on board with the OCC’s new rules; they cap songs that get knocked back after 10 weeks, yet this was in the Top 100 for 17 weeks before getting here & it probably should’ve sooner. That said, I can’t exactly complain either, because the song is sadly not all that good, or at least far from AJ Tracey’s best. The pitched-shifted, somwhat distorted background vocals really kills the hype of this song & it’s especially bad to open this up with. Thankfully, AJ Tracey tries his best to save it by using some more complex flows than his peers, but there’s so little outside of his decent MC skills that works here & the track seems to end a bit abruptly too, like, it could’ve done with another bridge or hook to slow the track down gradually instead of bringing it to a halt like that. I’m still keen to check out that debut album, but this isn’t one of the tracks I’m really attracted to. 5/10, at best!

- YOUNG T & BUGSEY FT AITCH - STRIKE A POSE (#30)
This is a song that I was preparing for next week, but apparently it had enough Apple Music presence to make the chart today. Anyway, as for this, there’s something addictive about this for sure! One trend in British hip-hop that is promising to see is that rappers outside of London are having their time in the spotlight, but the flows & the charisma here are undeniably smooth! In terms of production, what immediately stood out to me was the fuzzy bass & it has enough of a steady rhythm to make me “strike a pose”. Of course, the lyrics are complete nonsense & you have Aitch saying that he’s 19 whilst trying to go for a 32 year old woman which I found a bit unusual, but if you look beyond that, there is actually some potential for this. I’m giving this a solid 6/10 for now; it’s a lot better than I was expecting!

- MOSTACK FT FREDO - I’M THE ONE (#39)
As for this Mostack entry, again, I’m honestly on two minds with this! On one hand, I can kind of support the production from Steel Banglez; the skittering beat blends with the piano melody really well & I honestly wish the latter was brought further to the front of the mix (this only happens at the end of the song). However, then we get to the delivery & content; Fredo’s flow is certainly impressive but his lyrics really lack detail, but at least he’s not going for this annoying warbled tone that Mostack is that describes this relationship with a London girl that he’s interested in. Both of them also sound really off-key when it comes to their harmonies & that’s honestly the worst part of the song for me. I don’t know, maybe I’d have liked it more if it was a solo & at least the instrumentation is okay, but this doesn’t sound like something that’ll last. Light 5/10.

- On the albums chart, it’s a fourth consecutive week at #1 for ‘Divinely Uninspired To A Hellish Extent’ by Lewis Capaldi! It’s now the longest running #1 album to be released in 2019 so far.

- The rest of the Top 5 is: ‘Happiness Begins’ by The Jonas Brothers (debuts at #2, new personal best), ‘Stacko’ by Mostack (debuts at #3), ‘When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?’ by Billie Eilish (stationary at #4) & ‘Office Politics’ by The Divine Comedy (debuts at #5).

- Looking ahead to next week, these songs could enter the Top 40 for the first time: ‘Bounce Back’ by Little Mix, ‘You Need To Calm Down’ by Taylor Swift, ‘A Brand New Day’ by BTS & Zata Larsson, ‘Castles’ by Freya Ridings, ‘Stay [Don’t Go Away]’ by David Guetta ft Raye, ‘Joy’ by Bastille, 'Pop Out' by Polo G ft Lil Tjay, the two Drake tracks coming out tomorrow & maybe even more.

- Thanks for reading everyone! I hope you all have a good weekend. :)

- My latest Crown Note chart: http://crownnote.com/charts/piran-delves/pirans-top-40-132
(next one will be posted later or tomorrow)